Seeking help to repair the public’s square

Bishop invites city’s mayoral candidates to witness deterioration of Cathedral Square

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PROVIDENCE — As a large group of people gathered last week outside the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul for a prayer vigil to remember the victims of domestic violence, a man ascending from the plaza leading up to the cathedral briefly lost his footing as one of the rectangular stone steps wobbled and threatened to topple over.

“What a mess!” he exclaimed, as he regained his footing and continued warily on the final 20 feet to the cathedral’s steps.

Through the years conditions in Cathedral Square, the open, brick-covered plaza of city-owned land bordered on two sides by diocesan properties — the cathedral itself and the Chancery Office Building — have deteriorated to the point that traversing the grounds to and from Mass or visiting diocesan ministries can present a safety issue.

From his office in the chancery, which overlooks Cathedral Square, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has become dismayed by the lack of attention and upkeep the area is getting from the city.

“I have seen the deterioration over the years,” Bishop Tobin said as he surveyed the conditions on a walk-through of the square Monday, accompanied by two of the three candidates running for mayor of Providence.

The bishop spoke of the major investment the diocese has made in its cathedral, spending more than $1 million in the last year alone to reinforce and improve the historic structure, which culminated a yearlong celebration of its 125th anniversary in June.

“We’ve put so much time and effort and resources into the cathedral. This should be a square that is in better condition,” he told Republican candidate Dr. Dan Harrop and Independent candidate Vincent “Buddy” Cianci Jr. Democratic candidate Jorge Elorza was also invited to meet with the bishop in the square, but did not respond to the invitation.

In addition to the cracking and tipping stone slab stairs, the tour also passed one of the iron lamp posts in front of the chancery that is leaning precariously to the right off its foundation at about a 30 degree angle. In addition, four of the lights in a row near the entrance are not functioning, as was apparent by the fact that despite the bright late morning sunlight Monday, the lamp timers keep the lights on during the day, something diocesan maintenance have tried calling the city for weeks to correct, but to no avail. Several other lights in the square have bulbs in need of replacing.

And although it is lined with the same octagonal and rectangular bricks used to pave the square, the roadway running between the chancery and the cathedral is an actual city street — Fenner Street.

Due to an insufficient substructure below the bricks, Fenner Street has developed large potholes that often flood when it rains.

And when it was discovered that a drain cover had broken on the plaza, and that no one had come to fix it, maintenance staff from the diocese fashioned a replacement cover out of wood to prevent visitors from stepping into the hole left by the broken grate.

Above, the roadway, which is traversed on foot and by car by perhaps hundreds of people every day, some tree branches snapped off during Hurricane Irene three years ago still rest atop other branches waiting to be removed before they fall to the ground.

As the tour made its way back to the front of the chancery, Cianci attempted to get to the bottom of at least one of the problems plaguing the square. He took out his cell phone and called the city’s lighting department looking for answers.

Unlike the diocesan Maintenance Department, Cianci was able to get through to someone who could provide some insight into what the status of needed repairs is at Cathedral Square.

Putting the department representative on speakerphone after notifying him that he was in Cathedral Square with the bishop and looking for some answers to the problems with the lighting, the man indicated that they were aware of the problem with the light timer, but they needed to access the building formerly occupied by Curt Shilling’s 38 Studios company — which is located a few hundred feet from the cathedral — in order to reset the timers for the square.

Msgr. Albert A. Kenney, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the diocese, made it clear that the diocese is not pointing blame at the city, rather it would like to open a dialogue on improving the maintenance conditions, and share responsibilities as needed for the benefit of everyone using the square.

“We’re not just blaming the city,” he said. “We do a lot of the cleanup here.”

Dr. Harrop said the walk-through provided him with a sense of great urgency that repairs here need to be done immediately.

“It’s an emergency situation. The steps are unsafe — somebody is going to fall on these steps and sue the city, or somebody is going to be walking along and get hit by a tree branch.

He said that such situations, where citizen health is in imminent danger, need to be quickly brought to the attention of the City Council in addition to the city’s Department of Public Works.

“We have great city workers, but they are over-stretched and underfunded, and need to be persistently reminded of potentially dangerous situations.”

Although he has been advocating strong fiscal restraint as a candidate, he said there are some deficiencies in infrastructure for which resources must be made available.

“The money for this type of safety issue has to be found,” Dr. Harrop said.

Cianci, who noted that Cathedral Square was designed by famed architect I.M. Pei, who also designed the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, said he had worked closely with the diocese more than 20 years ago in sprucing up the square, even dedicating it to now Bishop Emeritus Louis Gelineau. As mayor, he said he would work with the diocese to share responsibility for the upkeep of the square.

“We fixed up this place then and put in the fountain (which no longer works, and is dedicated to the unborn child, according to a plaque beside it). Now, it’s in disrepair because it’s been neglected.”